China, 1750-1914

Courtney Boyer
Alyssa Plesser

Political

went from emperor to empress (Dowager Cixi)
unified government became seperated due to rebellions like the Taiping and Boxer
in 1912 Puyi abdicated the throne
Self Strengthening Movement (1860-1895) and 100 days of reform were attempts to modernize and help China-changed economic policies and social aspects of empire
Power remained in the Qing Dynasty until 1912

Opium trade was introduced to China in 1838 and led to the Opium War (1839-1842)
China was forced into unequal treaties starting with the Treaty of Nanjing after the Opium War- had drastic affects on their economy
China went from greatly restricting trade when Qiantong restricted European merchants to Guangzhou to being dominated by European presence throughout the empire and divided by spheres of influence
China's economy remained mostly agrarian throughout this period though it experienced little industrialization.

Intellectuals like Liang Qichao and Kang Youwei reinterpreted Confucian thought so that it would justify the radical changes occuring within China's imperial leadership
Confucian lost much of its influence and value in the daily lives of the Chinese

Confucianism lost social influence
People started becoming indentured laborers who went to work for European or American imperial powers
The social order remained stratified and didn't change

Confucianism was reinterpreted and applied to different elements of the empire
China was at first seen as an intellectually endowed place to being called stupid by the Japanese who were looking to seperate themselves from other Asian races

China lost Korea, Taiwan, the Pescadores Islands, and the Liaodong peninsula to Japan in the Sino-Japanese war (1894-1895)